The Justice Department filed a motion to remove an apparent phony docket entry after media revealed a prison inmate with a history of forging documents apparently tricked court staff.
The document, which was filed on Sept. 12 and remains on the docket as of Monday, appeared to be from the Treasury Department and said the agency had seized sensitive documents related to the Aug. 8 raid at Mar-a-Lago and included a warrant ordering CNN to “preserve leaked tax records.”
FAKE FILING ON COURT DOCKET IN TRUMP MAR-A-LAGO CASE LINKED TO NORTH CAROLINA INMATE: REPORT
“The United States of America herby moves to strike Docket Entry 128 which purports to be a motion by the United States Department of the Treasury to Intervene in the instant matter,” the DOJ’s Monday motion said. “The United States has confirmed the pleading was not submitted by the Department of the Treasury but rather mailed to the Clerk of Court by someone not associated with the Government.”
A review conducted by reporters at the Associated Press claimed on Sept. 16 that the document was entirely fake and may have originated from a person incarcerated in a North Carolina prison who has a history of forging government documents.
A federal statute for collecting financial records in investigations was cited in the document and also included two supposed warrants, one to a towing company in Michigan and another claiming to be sent to CNN in Atlanta, according to a copy of the allegedly bogus filing obtained by the Washington Examiner.
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The man was not identified by name, but the outlet said he had previously impersonated federal officers in court records, and his mail is supposed to be subject to additional scrutiny from the Bureau of Prisons, two people familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.
The inmate has been in prison for several years since he was found not competent to stand trial after an arrest for placing a fake explosive outside the Guardian Building, a Detroit skyscraper.
